News from Home, World and the Vatican

News selected by Catholic Lawyers Society Kuala Lumpur (CLS) for Catholics in Malaysia concerned about social justice and peace.

Includes CLS Internal News | CLS in the News | CLS Press Statements

Activating The Christian Vote

Christian churches and groups which have traditionally steered clear of politics have now begun to take a more active role in educating and disseminating information to voters.

Besides the ceramah and roadshows that the election campaign has thrown up, dialogues organised by various churches have sprung up as well.

Many churches are inviting candidates and academicians to debate and discuss national issues, in addition to issuing guidelines to the congregation on how to vote. Read more »

MCCBCHST Calls For Prayers As The Nation Goes To The Polls

As the nation goes to the polls, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) calls upon all concerned Malaysians especially our own Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Taoist communities to say special prayers in these critical times in the life of the nation.

During this time, let us pray that candidates for the General Elections will: Read more »

Archbishop Emeritus Soter Fernandez: Homily For Red Mass 2008

Never grow tired of doing what is right (2 Thes 3:13).

Jesus Stands Trial before Pilate (Jn 18:28 - 19:11)

Jesus was taken from trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin to trial before the Roman governor, Pilate, in Pilate's palace.

Pilate knew what was going on; he knew that the religious leaders hated Jesus, and he did not want to act as their executioner. They could not sentence him to death themselves - permission had to come from a Roman leader. But Pilate initially refused to sentence Jesus without sufficient evidence. Read more »

Orang Asli church sues for basic needs

Following the footsteps of the Temiar Orang Asli in Kelantan, another Orang Asli church - this time in Kuala Krau, Pahang - has gone to court against its own local and state governments.

The difference is however while the Temiar church was demolished, the Kuala Krau church has had its requests for water and power supplies falling on deaf ears. Read more »

British House Of Lords Allows "Hybrid" Embryos

The British House of Lords has rejected an effort to ban the creation of "hybrid" embryos combining human and animal tissues.

By a vote of 268- 96 the House of Lords defeated a proposed amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have prohibited the creation of the hybrid embryos. Read more »

Cabinet: 'Allah' for Muslims only

The Cabinet has ruled that restrictions on the use of the word “Allah” are still enforceable and thus Catholic weekly Herald cannot use the word although its printing licence has just been renewed.

In a statement yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin said apart from the word "Allah”, the use of the words “Solat”, “Kaabah” and “Baitullah” was also prohibited in other religions' publications as per the decisions of the Cabinet on July 30, 2002, on the restriction which had been enforced since Dec 5, 1986. Read more »

Herald's Permit Renewed With No Language Restrictions

Herald has been given the green light to publish the weekly next year without any language restrictions.

The local Catholic weekly, which was earlier instructed by the Internal Security Ministry to stop its Bahasa Malaysia segment, was granted its printing permit for 2008 yesterday. Read more »

Civil Or Syariah, Still Unclear

In handing down what is widely seen as an equivocal decision today, the Federal Court drew away from answering the question of which court, civil or Syariah, has exclusive jurisdiction to hear cases involving non-Muslim spouses whose partners had converted to Islam.

However the apex court made it clear, when it unanimously decided, that the High Court still has jurisdiction to hear cases involving non-Muslim spouses involved in a matrimonial disputes, even though the other partner had converted to Islam. Read more »

Herald Sues Government For Prohibiting Use Of Word 'Allah'

Catholic weekly "Herald" has filed a suit against the government for prohibiting it from using the word “Allah” in the local publication.

Herald’s publisher, in a statement today, said the Internal Security Ministry had issued a series of directives for the publication to cease the use of the word "Allah", failing which the publication’s permit could either be suspended or revoked. Read more »

Subashini Loses Bid To Stop Son's Conversion By Estranged Husband

The Federal Court today threw out a bid by a Hindu woman to stop her estranged husband from converting their youngest son to Islam.

Her case is another sign of strain in the social fabric of the multi-racial nation,where many non-Muslims believe their rights are being trampled by the Muslim majority. Read more »

Church Leaders Explain Use Of 'Allah'

The use of the word “Allah” to refer to God among Christians has been widely practised for generations in many countries and it is not meant to offend or confuse the Muslims, Christian leaders said on Sunday.

Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of local Catholic weekly The Herald, told theSun that its Bahasa Malaysia segment catered to the many Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Catholics in the country. Read more »

Catholic Weekly In Quandary Over Permit

The organ of the Catholic Church, Herald is facing problems in renewing its yearly publishing permit allegedly over the use of the word ‘Allah’ in the weekly’s Bahasa Malaysia section.

According to Church sources, the government is not happy with the use of the word ‘Allah’ by the weekly when referring to ‘God’ in Bahasa Malaysia. Read more »

Deputy Minister: Images And Crosses Won't Be Removed

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar says the government is not removing the images of Jesus, Mary or the Cross from mission schools.

"This is tradition and there is no reason why they should not be continued," he said in reply to a question by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) today. Read more »

Seminars On Freedom Of Religion Conducted By CLS Members

In line with the recent call by the Catholic Bishops of Malaysia to the Catholic community on the ramifications of the process of Islamisation that is being systematically introduced in our country, the Catholic Lawyers’ Society has deemed fit to respond by embarking on a series of seminar talks and forums at the level of various Catholic parishes in the Klang Valley and around Peninsular Malaysia.

The Catholic Lawyers’ Society hopes to conscientise the Catholic community at large on the dangerous consequences that affect our non-muslim community particularly in respect of the conversion to Islam that is increasingly rampant among our Catholic youth. Read more »

Prema Joseph's Notes: CLS Annual Retreat 2007

The Catholic Lawyers’ Society held their annual retreat from 30.8.2007 to 2.9.2007 at the Pekan Bungalow in Fraser’s Hill. The picturesque hill resort set amidst lush foliage provided a restful and serene setting for the spiritual experience attended by 14 lawyers.

The retreat, themed “Evaluating and Valuing our Christian growth” was conducted by Rev. Fr. David Reegon (Ofm). Read more »